Turbulence
by Broadwaylover5300
Summary: Hairspray fanfic CornyAmber Something is thrown into Corny's life that will affect every aspect of his life, especially his relationship with Amber.
1. The Letter

**Hi Everybody! First off, I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed my last story! I really appreciate it!**

**This story will have a darker tone than my first story, but I will be writing some stories with the same tone as my first for those who are turned off by the tone of this story. **

Corny Collins shuffled into his dressing room and kicked off his shoes. He looked at himself in the mirror and grimaced at what he saw. He thought he looked like a tramp, with his disheveled hair and wrinkled shirt, not to mention his suit, which he felt was the ugliest of all the suits he owned. The only reason he had worn the suit today was because it was the only suit of his that wasn't at the dry cleaner's. It had been a hard day.

Velma had yelled at him for about an hour about getting ready for the annual Christmas special, going on and on about how important the special was to the show, as if Corny needed to be told. Corny was well aware of how important the episode was. It was one of only two episodes that were aired during primetime, along with the Miss Teenage Hairspray pageant, and primetime meant more viewers, and more viewers meant more spectacle, at least in Velma's eyes. Because of this view, Velma had arranged a whopping three-hour special, packed with more dance numbers and singing than Corny could comprehend. There was one plus side to this, that he would be able to spend more time with Amber, something he was always happy to do, but on the flip side of the coin, that being a lot more practice time than usual, meaning that he wouldn't be getting home until nine or ten each night.

His thoughts were interrupted by a small knock on his door. He grinned and said, "Come in, Amber."

She came in, and, as usual, he became entranced by her. Her blond hair fell softly around her shoulders, perfectly framing her beautiful face. Her eyes glinted like diamonds, and her lips looked like a luscious red cherry just waiting to be picked. She smiled, and the smile revealed her dazzling white teeth.

"How did you know it was me?" she asked, with a laugh in her voice.

"I'm beginning to know your knock," he replied, scooting over on the couch to make room for her.

She sat down next to him, and caressed his face. "Had a hard day?"

"The worst. Your mother gave me a list of all the dance numbers and songs scheduled for the special, and it's about the length of the encyclopedia."

She laughed. "Well, is there any way I can get your mind off your troubles?"

He laughed softly. "Is your mom gone?"

"Yes, she left about a half-hour ago, but I told her that there was something I needed to do."

"Good." Corny shut off the lights in the room, and Amber laughed softly as she laid back and waited for him to do what she knew he was about to do.

Suddenly, a knock came at the door. Corny groaned and opened the door, to see Ted, the janitor, standing there.

"Somebody just dropped this off for you, sir," Ted said as he handed a white envelope to Corny.

"Thanks, Ted," Corny said, kind of confused, as he took the envelope and closed the door.

He looked at the envelope. "Selective Service System" was stamped in the top left corner of the envelope…

**This chapter's kind of short, but there will be more ****coming**** soon, I promise!**

**Please review, I love reading them!**


	2. Boot Camp

**Wow, I said I'd be updating soon, but I didn't think I'd be getting back to it this quick!**

The next few weeks were a blur. The letter had said, along with telling Corny that he would be entering the Marine Corps, that he had had two weeks to get his affairs in order before he had to report to Parris Island in North Carolina for basic training. Corny had hoped that he would have some time to rest before he had to leave, but, what with the marine physical and Velma forcing him to work right up until he left, Corny had barely had time to say his goodbyes before he had to leave for North Carolina.

Corny felt bare. As soon as he and the other new recruits had arrived on the island, they had immediately taken away almost all their civilian possessions, made them all put on these white T-shirts and shorts and sent them all off to the barber to get their heads shaved. Now, only a half an hour after they had arrived, there they were, standing in their barracks, in front of their bunks, waiting for their drill instructor, the man who would be making their lives hell for nine weeks.

All of a sudden, the double doors at the front of the barracks boomed open, and a tall man walked in. He wore combat boots and the standard marine uniform for drill instructors. He was carrying what looked like a nightstick. He looked to be about sixty-five, but he was a sixty-five year old that was in good shape. When he talked, it was constantly at a yelling tone of voice.

"Okay, you maggots, I am Gunnery Sgt. Thompson, your senior drill instructor. For the next nine weeks, you will do exactly as I tell you, and the first and last words out of your dirty sewers will be sir. Understand?"

"SIR, YES, SIR!" all of the recruits answered in unison, all except Corny, who couldn't help grinning at the drill instructor's over-the-top attitude. The instructor looked in Corny's direction, and Corny stopped grinning, but not quickly enough for the instructor to not notice. The instructor quickly walked over and stopped in front of Corny.

"You got a problem, private?" Thompson yelled.

"Sir, no, sir!" Corny replied, trying to sound convincing.

"Do you find something funny about me?"

"Sir, no, sir!" Corny yelled.

Suddenly, Thompson took his nightstick and hit Corny hard in his solar plexus and Corny went to his knees, gasping for breath.

"Get up!" Thompson yelled. When Corny didn't comply, Thompson kicked him in the stomach, sending Corny sprawling to the floor. "GET UP, MAGGOT!"

Corny got up as quickly as he could, immediately after which, Thompson smacked him in the face. "What's your name, scumbag?"

Corny, still trying to catch his breath, managed to let out, "Sir, Corny Collins, sir!"

"Private Collins, I'm gonna be keeping my eye on you. It looks like I'm gonna need to motivate you," Thompson snarled. Thompson spun on his heel and began pacing the barracks. "Now, because I am hard, you will not like me. But the more you hate me, the better trained you will be. If you fairies leave my island, you will be hardened Marines ready to kill, anytime, anywhere!"

Corny made up his mind right then that he would never be a hardened Marine.

Suddenly, Thompson came to a stop in front of Corny's bunk bed again. Corny was worried that he was going to be beaten again, but Thompson walked up to Corny's bunkmate, who was standing on the opposite side of the bunk.

"What's your name, you ugly piece of crap?" Thompson snarled.

"Sir, John Hanson, sir!" Corny's bunkmate replied.

"Private Hanson, why did you join my beloved corps?"

"Sir, because I was drafted, sir!" Hanson yelled, causing the rest of the recruits to laugh.

"SHUT YOUR UGLY FACES!" Thompson yelled, causing the recruits to immediately silence. "Hanson, that is a poor answer, and I suggest you rethink it before you leave this island!"

After giving more of his speech to the platoon and singling out a few more recruits to beat and torment individually, Thompson said, "Okay, we're gonna see how really fit you maggots are. Follow me out to the obstacle course!"

The obstacle course was, without a doubt, one of the hardest things that Corny had ever had to face in his life. It wouldn't have been so hard if every single one of the obstacles hadn't involved heights, something Corny was deathly afraid of. The hardest obstacle by far was this huge, wide ladder that was to be climbed up on one side and climbed down on the other. Thompson sat at the top, watching the recruits go up and down. The only reward a recruit got for doing it well was silence from Thompson. Those who failed to do it to Thompson's satisfaction were subjected to much verbal assault from Thompson. Unfortunately for Corny, he froze at the very top, terrified at how high up he was. Of course, this ignited a steady stream of insults from Thompson.

"What the hell are you waiting for, Collins? Oh, that's right, make no effort to make it over the obstacle. Collins, you disgust me! Get down off my obstacle, you're degrading it! Go on, pansy! Get off my obstacle!"

That was the way the whole rest of the day had went. The only quiet time of the day was when it was time for lights out.

"Good night, ladies," Thompson snarled as he walked into his private quarters at the head of the barracks.

Corny lay in his bunk, thinking about how much he missed Baltimore. He missed everything about it, the sights, the sounds, the smells, his home, his show, Amber. He even missed Velma a little bit. He was thinking about all this when, suddenly, a whispering came from the bunk below him.

"Hey, Collins?" Hanson whispered.

"Yeah?"

"Where are you from?"

"Baltimore." Corny said, and even the name sent through him a great sense of homesickness.

"Yeah? I've been through there. Nice town," Hanson whispered.

"Yeah, it is," Corny said.

"You leave anybody behind back there? I mean, you got a girl?"

Corny sighed. "Yeah."

"What's she like?"

Corny proceeded to tell Hanson all of Amber's good qualities. "Wow, she sounds great," Hanson whispered.

"Yeah, she is," Corny said.

"I think that's when it's probably the hardest to come out here, when you've got a girl. I mean, the fact that we might never come home to them again…"

"Hold it, what do you mean?" Corny asked.

"What do you mean, what do I mean? I mean the war in 'Nam, most of us are probably gonna be going over there."

It was funny, but the war had never even entered Corny's mind. Now that it had, Corny was filled with even more of a sense of longing to return home.

"Hey, Collins, you all right?" Hanson asked.

"Yeah…look, Hanson, I'm really tired. Is there any possibility we can pick this up tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

Corny laid back in his bed, his mind filled with thoughts about Amber and worries that he may not ever see her again…

**I've come into a lot of free time, so you can expect another update tomorrow! I really like where this story is going! **


	3. The Arrival

**Hello again, everyone! I just wanted to say sorry, but I kind of fly through boot camp, there's a lot of other stuff I want to get to.**

The next nine weeks flew by quickly, much to Corny's surprise. Every day was more of the same grueling physical exercise and verbal assault from Thompson. The only times when this was different was when Thompson would give his impassioned speeches about a Marine and his rifle. The only other time when Thompson wasn't throwing insults was on Christmas, which came about four weeks into training.

During the nights, Corny had really been getting to know Hanson. Hanson was the type that would never have gone to war unless he had been drafted. He wasn't a hippie, he just didn't believe in war. Every night, he and Corny were engaged in pretty extensive conversations about life, death, religion, and pretty much anything else that came up. Hanson was very smart, and he always got very deep about the subjects they would talk about. It wasn't too long before he and Hanson were best friends.

Graduation from boot camp was here quicker than Corny had anticipated. The morning of graduation, right before the ceremony, Thompson gave a speech in the barracks. "Today, you people are no longer maggots. Today you are marines. You are part of a brotherhood, every single one of you. Most of you will go to Vietnam. Some of you will not come back. But you are part of the corps, and the corps never dies, and that means you never die!" Thompson said.

The graduation was pretty simple. There were a few easy marching drills, followed by the handing out of assignments to each recruit, done by Thompson:

"Private Howell!"

"Sir, yes, sir!"

"0300, infantry. Private Hanson!"

"Sir, yes, sir!"

"0300, infantry. You're going to Vietnam. Private Collins!"

"Sir, yes, sir!"

"0300, infantry. You're going with Hanson."

After the ceremony, training was done, so the recruits were really given the rest of the day to visit with the people who had come to watch the graduation. Corny walked over to Amber, who had come with the rest of the council members.

Once they were alone, Amber asked, "Oh, Corny, I'm so scared for you. What if you don't come home?"

"Don't worry, baby, I'll be home. I'll make sure of it," Corny said as he lightly kissed her.

"Corny, will you do me a favor?" Amber asked.

"Anything, baby," Corny said.

"If anything happens, don't try to be a hero."

"Sure."

That night was the recruits' last night in the barracks. Hanson whispered, "Corny, was that your girlfriend that I saw you talking to?"

"Yeah, that was her," Corny replied.

"She's pretty. You're a lucky man," Hanson said.

"Yeah," was all Corny could say.

"So, just think, this time next week, we'll be in Vietnam."

"Yeah, that's true," Corny replied.

"What do you think 'Nam will be like?"

"I don't know."

After the recruits left the island, they were given one week to return home. Corny returned home, only to find that he had to host the show for that one week. After doing that and doing all the other things that he had time to do, Corny reported back to Parris Island, where he, Hanson, and the rest of the platoon caught a plane to Vietnam.

Upon arrival, Corny saw that Vietnam was very different from anywhere else he had ever been before. Jungle stretched out as far as he could see on one side, and there were miles upon miles of swamp on the other. The only sign of civilization was a long road cutting into the jungle. A tall young man walked up to Corny and Hanson.

"Private Collins? Private Hanson?" the young man asked.

"Yup, that's us," Hanson said.

"I'm private Stuart. You two are coming with me to your new platoon."

After a long ride through the jungle, the jeep arrived in a clearing, in which was a large encampment. Rock music blared through speakers and the smell of barbecued burgers and steaks filled the air, coming from a grill that was nearby. The camp was a bustle of activity, all revolving around a large tent in the middle.

Private Stuart led Corny and Hanson through the camp to the large tent, and Stuart poked his head into the tent. "Sir, the new guys are here."

A tall, lanky man came out of the tent. He was bare-chested and had dogtags hanging around his neck. He had a mess of brown hair. Sensing that this was the platoon leader, Corny and Hanson immediately saluted.

"Oh, shit!" the man cried as he jerked their arms down. "Do not salute me. There are snipers all around that would love to plug an officer. I'm Lieutenant Doyle, I'm your new platoon leader. Collins and Hanson, right?"

"Yes, sir!" Collins and Hanson barked.

"Well, you can get your weapons over there-" Doyle pointed to a small tent nearby- "and if you boys are hungry, we got steaks cookin' right over there," Doyle pointed at the grill.

"Welcome to Vietnam, boys," Doyle said as he reentered his tent.

It didn't take too long for Corny to see his first combat. The day after they arrived, they were marching through swampland, when, out of nowhere, a small group of the Vietcong came out of nowhere and started firing off their machine guns. The guy right behind Corny was plugged in the head and fell into the murky water.

"SHIT!" Doyle yelled. "OPEN FIRE!"

The whole platoon opened fire on the small group as the Viet Cong fired back. Although some of the platoon was wounded, the small group was soon eliminated.

Doyle walked up behind Corny and picked up the man who had fallen into the water. "You see this, Collins and Hanson?" Doyle said as he showed them the dead body.

Corny and Hanson nodded.

"This is how you're gonna come home if you're not careful out here," Doyle said as he carried the body away.

Corny watched as Doyle carried the body off. Corny knew that that would be an image that he would carry with him for a long, long time.

**Because I'm nice, I've decided to post the next chapter later on today! **

**Please review!**


	4. Tragedy

**See? I told you I'd post later on today!**

**By the way, I thought it would be a good idea to show you the way I feel about war, so I thought I'd start this chapter with some song lyrics.**

_How many deaths will it take till he knows_

_That too many people have died?_

Blowing in the Wind, Bob Dylan

Vietnam was hellish, a hot, muggy place with nothing but pain and misery. Every day consisted of marching through jungles, swamps, and hot, dusty roads. The platoon had to constantly be on the lookout for booby traps such as landmines and trip wires around pits filled with spikes. Corny had actually watched a fellow member of his platoon be impaled by one of the spikes, so Corny was especially leery of these sort of traps.

The only time that Corny almost felt like he was back home in Baltimore was when he was with Hanson. Hanson had developed a technique for dealing with all of the death and pain around him, and that was humor. Whenever the platoon seemed particularly low, Hanson was always ready with a joke or story that lifted the platoon's spirits.

Corny also felt lucky that he had somebody like Lt. Doyle as his platoon leader. He had been in Vietnam for a while, so Doyle was well aware of the way things worked in what he called this "jungle war" and was always guiding the platoon with a firm and steady hand.

For some reason, Corny always felt that the people closest to him in the platoon, Hanson and Doyle, were impervious to any serious damage. The fact that in the many skirmishes and full-on battles the platoon had fought in, Hanson and Doyle, and even Corny for that matter, had only come away with minor wounds helped confirm this thought that Corny had.

One day in late February (at least that's what Corny thought, nobody was ever sure what day or month it was), the platoon was marching through a very dense part of jungle. The jungle was very quiet, so Corny felt a level of safety fall over himself, and he could see that the rest of the platoon felt the same feeling from the way they were marching.

All of a sudden, a loud chatter of machine gun fire ripped through the jungle directly in front of them and riddled one of the soldiers with bullets. Corny immediately dropped down next to Hanson. This had now become an involuntary action.

Doyle saw them and yelled, "That's not gonna work this time! We're too close! They're on the other side of that huge clearing up ahead! We've gotta charge 'em!"

Heeding Doyle's orders, Hanson and Corny took up their guns and started rushing across the field. It didn't take them long to find out that that was just what the enemy had wanted them to do, for the whole clearing was filled with landmines, evidenced by the huge amount of explosions and ripped-up bodies everywhere.

"CHARGE!" Doyle yelled, and Corny, Hanson and Doyle charged across the field.

Corny could feel bullets hitting his arms and legs, feel them whizzing through his hair and piercing his shoulders, but it didn't matter, Corny kept running, until he looked over at Hanson for a moment.

Corny saw Hanson running across the field when, all of a sudden, Hanson was hit with a huge volley of bullets in his chest and stomach. Hanson fell, and all of a sudden, an explosion rocked the area where Hanson had fallen, sending Hanson at least a mile in the air and sending him headfirst back into the ground, into a patch of tall grass.

Corny screamed and started running toward where Hanson's body had fallen, carefully sidestepping landmines hidden in the grass. Corny could feel pieces of hot shrapnel from freshly exploded landmines pelting his body and bullets whizzing around him and some hitting him, but Corny didn't care. All he cared about was getting to his friend.

Once Corny got to the tall grass, he realized that, if he crouched, he would be out of the view of the enemy. Still carefully sidestepping mines, he eventually made it to Hanson, who was lying in the middle of an area that was devoid of mines. Hanson looked awful. His face was charred and burned from the mine he had fallen on, and his clothes looked like they had been washed in blood. His hair was matted with blood. His breathing was heavily labored.

"Buddy?" Corny cried. He tried not to sound panicked, but it was almost impossible to do. Hanson looked up at him with a weak grin.

"Hey, pal," Hanson said, his voice very weak and faint. "The Cong- they've got me this time, man. I'm done for."

"Don't say that! I'll get you someplace safe, and we'll get you some help."

Hanson didn't seem to hear. He suddenly got a faraway look in his eyes, and said, "I want to go home. Why won't they let me go home?" He closed his eyes, and took his last breath.

Corny realized that the enemy now knew where he was, and he couldn't stay in this area much longer, but he also knew that he couldn't leave his friend's body here to rot in a field in Vietnam. He slung Hanson's body over his shoulder and started running out of the field, toward a river where he knew he could hide Hanson's body until he could radio in to a plane to come and pick him up.

As he was running, Corny stumbled and fell over what he thought was a log, but it turned out to be the mangled legs of Lt. Doyle. When Corny saw that Doyle was still alive, he took Doyle's hand and starting dragging him through the valley.

"COLLINS! What are you doing?! Leave me here! Don't you see it's my destiny to die here?!" Doyle screamed.

"I'm sorry, I can't do that, sir!" Corny yelled.

When they got to the river, Corny carefully placed Hanson's body and Lt. Doyle in a pit blown by a landmine and covered it with grass and palm fronds. Doyle was moaning, "My legs! Oh God, I can't feel my legs…"

Corny motioned for him to be quiet as he radioed in for a plane to pick them up. All of a sudden, a helicopter came over the river and started firing at Corny! Corny did the only thing he could do: jump into the river.

The bullets came down where Corny had gone under, but Corny emerged into the river and plunged into the jungle, completely unsure of what he'd find there…

**As always, please review!**


	5. In Baltimore

**Hi! This chapter shifts to Amber's point of view, because I thought it would be best to tell this part of the story from her perspective. This chapter is kind of short, but that's okay, right? **

**Disclaimer: I don't own the song in this chapter.**

Amber was concerned.

She had good reason to be, too. She ordinarily got a letter a week from Corny, but she hadn't gotten any since she got a call from some officer in the Marine Corps that told her that Corny had been reported missing in action. That had been about a month ago. Amber had voiced her concern to a fellow council member and she got a response of, "Well, you know, if he's in combat, there's not exactly a mailbox on every corner." For some odd reason, Amber wasn't comforted by her answer.

Amber was resting in her dressing room after the show one day when she heard an unfamiliar voice behind her. "Excuse me, but are you Amber Von Tussle?"

She turned around to see a man in a wheelchair behind her, both of his legs in casts. "Yes, I am. Can I help you?" she answered.

"Well, I'm Tom Doyle. I was Corny Collins' platoon leader."

Amber gasped. "Do you know if he's okay?"

"No, I can't honestly say that I do. I just wanted to let you know that he saved my life, and I just wanted to meet the girlfriend of the man who saved my life."

That visit had made Amber feel good, it felt good to know that Corny was actually making a difference in people's lives over in Vietnam. However, that didn't exactly stop Amber from worrying about his safety.

One day in the middle of May, Amber was walking through a park somewhere in the middle of Baltimore. This had been a particularly hard day for her. She walked under maple trees, looked up at the leaves sprouting. She looked at the flowers, now in full bloom. She saw a couple having a picnic under the long branches of a maple tree, and it was just too much for her. She started crying so hard that she had to sit down until she stopped.

After she had calmed down enough, she got up and started home. As she turned onto the street that her home sat on, she started singing to herself one of her favorite songs that had just been released, Cherish by The Association:

_Cherish is the word_

_I use to describe_

_All the feelings that I have_

_Hiding deep for you inside…_

As she continued singing, she became vaguely aware of a voice behind her, singing the words along with her. Amber thought she recognized the voice, but the voice was too faint for her to really say who it was. However, as she continued singing, the voice grew closer, and Amber was able to recognize who it was. That was a voice she would know anywhere…

"CORNY!" Amber screamed with joy as she turned around and saw Corny coming toward her as fast as he could! Albeit, Corny couldn't move very quickly, seeing as how one of his legs was in a cast and he was using crutches, but that didn't change the fact that it was Corny coming toward her!

Amber started running toward Corny. Corny dropped his crutches and opened his arms as she drew closer. Amber fell into his arms and felt the warm feeling as his arms wrapped around her. She felt a huge wave of happiness wash over her as Corny kissed her. She went limp in his arms because of all the happiness and joy she felt inside of her.

"I've wanted to do that for a long, long, time," Corny said after their lips unlocked.

"So have I," Amber whispered. "Couldn't we just stand here and hold each other, forever?"

"I'd like that, too," Corny laughed, "but, first, let's go back to my house. I've got a lot to tell you about."

Amber wasn't sure how many hours she spent at Corny's house that day, but it was quite a few. Corny told her everything, going from basic training to how he had been found lying half-dead in a ditch by another platoon, who immediately took him back to their camp and called in a plane to take him home.

When Corny told her about how he had saved Doyle's life, Amber said, "You should win the Congressional medal of honor for that."

"I am," Corny said, surprising Amber. "I have to go to Washington next Saturday for a ceremony where I will be given the medal of honor. I'm going to take the entire council with me."

"Oh, Corny, that's wonderful," Amber said. "I've missed you so much. I just want you to hold me and kiss me all night."

"Sounds okay to me," Corny said as Amber fell into his arms.


End file.
